Fifa

ARTICLES ABOUT FIFA BY DATE - PAGE 2

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Police in Rio de Janeiro were searching on Thursday for the chief executive of a Swiss hospitality company implicated by a World Cup ticket scalping investigation. After a court ordered the arrest of the executive and the continued detention of 10 other suspects already held in the probe, police were unable to find Ray Whelan, of MATCH Services, a company contracted by tournament organisers to arrange ticketing and hospitality packages. Whelan, who was briefly arrested earlier in the week and released pending a court order, was not present when police arrived at the Copacabana Palace, the luxurious beachside hotel where he had been staying in Rio along with many tournament organisers.

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - FIFA suspended the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Wednesday on account of government interference, world football's ruling body said in a statement. FIFA sent a letter to the NFF last week expressing its concern after the NFF was served with court proceedings preventing its President from running the African country's football affairs. (Editing by Ed Osmond)

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - FIFA has rejected a German newspaper allegation that World Cup referees have been instructed to hold off from showing yellow cards to players. Tabloid newspaper Bild reported on Monday that there was a "secret arrangement" to limit the number of cards and referees who did not adhere to the accord would not be selected for further games at the tournament. The newspaper questioned if the alleged policy was partly responsible for the injury to Neymar in Brazil's quarter-final against Colombia, which produced 54 fouls and only four yellow cards.

BELO HORIZONTE Brazil (Reuters) - Football's governing body FIFA should set an example to the world by giving 10 percent of World Cup profits to the poor, a Venezuelan legislator has said. "It would be stupendous news for the whole planet, which is in such need of good news," William Ojeda said in comments widely published by Venezuelan media on Saturday. "FIFA, which earns so much money from the organisation of the world event, should demonstrate with actions that its vision is not only monetary, and should channel at least 10 percent of its profits from the World Cup to help poor countries.